I bow down to you, my Guru and protector, venerable Manjushri, whose intellect shines brilliantly like the sun, unclouded by the two obscurations.

I bow to you who holds a text to your heart, showing that you see all objects as they appear and as they actually exist; who, like a father toward a child, teaches in 60 melodious ways all beings tormented by suffering and confused by darkness and ignorance in the prison of samsara.

I bow to you whose dragon-like proclamations awaken us from the sleep of our defilements and free us from the shackles of karma; to you who holds a sword to dispel the darkness of ignorance and cut the sprouts of suffering, wherever they are.

I bow to you who is pure from the beginning, has reached the limits of the tenth stage, whose qualities are spontaneously perfected and whose princely body is adorned with 112 marks; to you who dispels the darkness of my mind and makes all possible.

OM AH RA PA SA NA DHI DHI DHI DHI DHI DHI..........

Oh compassionate Manjushri, I ask that you dispel the darkness of my ignorant mind with the radiant light of your wisdom so that I may fully realize the meaning of all the Buddha's teachings. I ask for your courage and insight so that I too may perceive directly the nature of reality.

From the Chinese Mahayana Liturgy:Praise to Manjusri BodhisattvaOf utmost lofty kindness, is 'Admirable Auspicious',In Three Periods, Mother of the Awakened Ones, Immeasurable Wisdom,On His Left, Wields an Affliction Severing Sword,On His Right, a Blue Lotus, Hallmark of His Virtue,His Vahana are the Peacock and the Lion,Deadly Nagas and Fearsome Brutes subdued, cool and pure,His Provisional Manifestation, a Fivefold Topknot Pure Youth,Formerly, He is 'Happy Treasury Tathagata',Homage! One of Pure and Cool Summit, Golden Realm, Greatly Wise Manjusri Bodhisattva!Namo Wonderful Auspicious Bodhisattva (recite while circumnambulating)

The Great PraiseManjusri, upholder of the Dharma King,Of Wisdom's depth, fathomable only to Buddhas,Invigorating Sudden Perfect Enlightenment's subtle tenets,Clarifying completely its wondrous intent,Eliminating sentient views of those heeding,Attaining Bodhi's original nature,May we like Sudhana, lavished with auspicious radiance,Finally realizing the Eternal Truth! May we like Sudhana, lavished with auspicious radiance,Finally realizing the Eternal Truth!

Who calms the flames of ambition for one's own pleasure, with the waters of long cultivated compassion,Who cuts the net of imaginative fabrications, by seeing the reality of the profound as it is,Who carries with tireless heart the responsibility of helping others, to reveal to beings what he sees himself,My mind is aimed at such a tutelary deity as you, O Manjushri!Please consider for a moment these flowers of verses of praise,Stirred by the wind of faith, O Manjughosha, Treasure of Wisdom,O radiant shining mass of rays of saffron light,Like the great solid golden axial mountain,Embraced by the rays of the rising sun!

Though one were to seek strenuously everywhere, One finds no good refuge other that in you,When my mind thus turns itself toward you,It is like a sun-burnt elephant plunging in the lotus pond!Thus, expressing your excellence, when I let my mind goToward the means of finding fulfillment of my hopes,It is like the lowly beggar's pleasureWhen he sees the beautiful gift-giver coming!

Dhih!Supreme enlightened form of all buddhas and their heirs,Throughout the whole of space and time,Powerful lord of speech and embodiment of wisdom, precious Manjughosha,Remain forever upon the lotus in the centre of my heart.

You are the father of all the buddhas who have gone to bliss,And the dharmadhatu mother from whom the noble ones are born,Yet you appear as the son of the buddhas of past, present and future-To you who are without equal, I prostrate in devotion!

Dancer in the net of illusion which pervades the whole expanse of reality,Treasury of universal benefit and happiness for as long as space exists,Embodiment of vajra wisdom of all-encompassing equality,To you, Manjushri the ever-youthful, I prostrate and offer praise !

Your mind is completely pure and luminous, like the sun free of the clouds of the two obscurations;You hold a text at your heart, since you see all the variety of objects just as they are.You love like your only child all the multitude of beings, who are trapped by the darkness of ignorance in the prison of samsaric existenceAnd are afflicted by suffering; you speech, possessing the sixty kinds of melodyRoars mightily like dragon; thus you awaken from the sleeo of the kleshas, liberate from the chains of karmaAnd dispel the darkness of ignorance; you hold aloft a sword since you cut all the sprouts of suffering;You are primordially pure and have completed the ten Bhumis; you have perfected all the qualities; the kaya of the elder son of the Victorious OneIs adorned with the 112 ornaments. You dispel the darkness of my mind.

Is it possible for people posting prayers and other practice texts to include the source? A reference to a lineage, an author, book or website from where it is taken would be enough...though the name of the translator, if known, would be nice too as a gesture of gratitude to translators --- who are so often forgotten!

I may be wrong but I believe that it is important to know where a prayer comes from if one is to adopt it, even briefly. Prayers that reach us from authentic sources carry all the blessings of the lineage... What do people think ?

Kunga Lhamo wrote:Is it possible for people posting prayers and other practice texts to include the source? A reference to a lineage, an author, book or website from where it is taken would be enough...though the name of the translator, if known, would be nice too as a gesture of gratitude to translators --- who are so often forgotten!

I may be wrong but I believe that it is important to know where a prayer comes from if one is to adopt it, even briefly. Prayers that reach us from authentic sources carry all the blessings of the lineage... What do people think ?

Lucy

I thought about it a long time, I came to the conclusion that there is more of yourself actually expressing the aspiration or prayer when you leave them out. This is an important factor here. It seems to be the tradition also, for example the dedication prayer Sönam di yi thamche zig pa nyi, and so on... contains quotations from four different sources, from Nagarjuna, Samantabhadra pranidhana sutra, etc... -who compiled it is unknown to me-, it is the one of the most commonly recited dedications. Same applies to many sadhanas, they contain all kinds of quotations with out mentioning the source, if you know by heart thousands of pages of sutras etc.. you would always notice the quotation, so it doesn't matter!!

The chant posted by Chaz was used by Ponlop Rinpoche in his classes at Naropa many years ago --- in the 1990's. He later replaced it with a shorter chant, which has been used for years at Nitartha and Nalandabodhi.

This chant is a favorite of mine --- I do it every morning.

Here is a corrected version:

I prostrate to the Bhagavat ManjusriYour mind is completely pure and luminous, Like the sun, free of the clouds of the two obscurationsYou hold a text at your heart since you see all the variety of objects just as they areYou love like your only child all the multitude of beings who are trapped by the darkness of ignorance in the prison of samsaric existence and are afflicted by sufferingYour speech, possessing the sixty kinds of melody, roars mightily like a dragonThus you awaken from the sleep of the klesas, liberate from the chains of karma, and dispel the darkness of ignoranceYou hold aloft a sword since you cut all the sprouts of sufferingYou are primordially pure and have completed the ten bhumisYou have perfected all the qualitiesThe kaya of the elder son of the victorious one is adorned with the one hundred and twelve ornamentsYou dispel the darkness of my mindI pay homage to Manjusri